Connecticut News

[relaxok]

The same on CT-8, just got doing a repaving project there also and the new markings have the "guide dots" crossing the exit ramps (which CTDOT has been doing for a couple years now) and now they have the guide dots for the on-ramps.  It helps b/c you know exactly how the on-ramp lane is merging into the mainline.

How is CT-8 these days?

I'm no longer in CT as of 2005 but I recall it usually being in terrible condition.. In dire need of paving, in dire need of re-striping the lines (barely visible), etc.  Especially the area adjacent to Waterbury..  Of course it may have been as far back as the 90s that I was even on it.

[Duke87]

It was recently resurfaced between Bridgeport and Derby. Around Waterbury I don't recall it being particularly bad but I don't think there was a repaving up there anytime within the past few years.

[Mergingtraffic]

I-84 Signing project update:  (Sorry nopics)
1) On I-84 EB just before Exit 3 (US-7 SB Exit) and the US-7-6-202 multiplex, the I-84 EB 2-lane pull through BGS has been replaced and it now says "To 7 NB" as a 2-lane pull through instead.  I-84 NOT on the sign! 

2) Also the left exit BGSs have the yellow "LEFT" tabs on them. 

[shadyjay]

I-84 Signing project update:  (Sorry nopics)
1) On I-84 EB just before Exit 3 (US-7 SB Exit) and the US-7-6-202 multiplex, the I-84 EB 2-lane pull through BGS has been replaced and it now says "To 7 NB" as a 2-lane pull through instead.  I-84 NOT on the sign!  

Well that's kind of bizarre... though there was never mention of US 7 NB at that interchange in the past, and probably should've been, but at the expense of an I-84 shield?  
Here's the Google Maps view of the old assembly at Exit 3-EB:
http://www.google.com/maps?q=danbury,+ct&hl=en&ll=41.384765,-73.480351&spn=0.000002,0.001931&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.677964,93.076172&vpsrc=6&hnear=Danbury,+Fairfield,+Connecticut&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=41.384451,-73.479955&panoid=9vIDIqaCpzK8jaF1dUAl0Q&cbp=12,85.89,,0,-0.68

I'm guessing that gantry was replaced as well?

[Mergingtraffic]

I'm guessing that gantry was replaced as well?

The older gantry is still there.  It was a 1980s gantry.  The sign in question is at the half mile Exit 3 BGS.  So maybe the other two (1 MIle & exit now) sign will have the I-84 shield? 

PS, some of the 60s gantries have survived throughout the project with new signs on them.

[relaxok]

Everyone (myself included) was always so confused about the US-7 segments being split by so great a distance on 84 and it not just continuing... Is that sort of split a rarity?

[Alps]

You're not supposed to have different messages on consecutive signs. They should all say I-84 / US 6/7/202.

[Mergingtraffic]

On WFSB Channel 3's "Face the State" this Sunday is a look back on the busway route plan of 1974.  Check out the link from anchor Dennis House.  Old I-91 pics from 1974.

http://dennishouse.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/face-the-state-flashback-the-busway-proposal-of-74/

I can't make it out, but the pic with the "Exit 31-32 Downtown" sign on it is I-91 NB I think.
Was I-91 5 lanes wide here?  Or was it already divided up into slip ramps and C&D roads by this time?  I know the current state of I-91 was done in the early 90s.

[shadyjay]

I can't make it out, but the pic with the "Exit 31-32 Downtown" sign on it is I-91 NB I think.
Was I-91 5 lanes wide here?  Or was it already divided up into slip ramps and C&D roads by this time?  I know the current state of I-91 was done in the early 90s.

Yup, that shot is I-91 NB.  I-91 appears to have 2 thru lanes and an extra wide shoulder, which may in reality have been the "Exit Only" lane for Exit 30, which led to the Founder's Bridge and was signed simply as "EXIT 30 / EAST I-84".  After that, you had two Downtown exits on the left:  Exit 31 (which was signed as State St but led to Kinsley Street) and Exit 32 (To I-84 West).  IIRC that old Exit 32 ramp led to the Morgan St/Chapel St frontage road combo, making the I-91->I-84 connection indirect. 

[KEVIN_224]

Much of that interchange as we know it today, has only been that way since the early 1990s. I do know part of I-91 used to go over the Founders Bridge (beginning of CT Route 2). The flyover ramp from I-84/US 6 East to I-91 North opened in October of 1990.

[shadyjay]

The flyover ramp from I-84/US 6 East to I-91 North opened in October of 1990.

That was BIG news when it opened in 1990.  Before then, there was no direct route, and motorists had to exit, head south and use the onramp that was off Commerce Street. 

I remember when I-91 South used to go over the Founder's Bridge (I-91 North has always ducked under).  The big reasoning for the lowering of I-91 was to build the pedestrian plaza connecting Constitution Plaza and the Founders Bridge.  I remember the article in the Courant about Riverfront Recapture and their plans.  It took years for it to happen, but the end result was finally a construction-free zone on I-91 through Hartford. 

Before the reconfiguration, there was also a ramp from the Founders Bridge WB to I-91 South, which entered I-91 SB on the left. 

[KEVIN_224]

I'm trying to picture a ramp coming from the Founders Bridge like that. I wish there were photos of downtown Hartford overhead from just before this was all redone, say from the 1980s. Despite the closeness to Hartford, I rarely went into the capitol back then.

[NE2]

I wish there were photos of downtown Hartford overhead from just before this was all redone, say from the 1980s.

http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials.php?scale=3.44853969719683E-05&lat=41.7684138310079&lon=-72.6694167370338&year=1962

[J N Winkler]

New signing project on the Milford Connector.  The big news is the exits will now have numbers!  

http://www.biznet.ct.gov/SCP_Documents/Bids/23224/83-253%20Plans%20Portfolio.pdf

Are there more signing plans or other docs like this? I tried looking around but directory browse is disabled and the main site doesn't make it obvious where to look.

As far as I can tell, the Biznet.ct.gov portal allows you to run searches for contracts filtered by awarding agency ("Transportation, Department of" in this case), and documents (including plans and the proposal book, if uploaded at the time of advertisement) continue to be available even for "expired" ads.  By default the search results are collated by ConnDOT contract number (so, for example, 83-253 comes after 200-17).  There may be options, which I haven't yet investigated, for searching by project description.  The entry page for searching is at:

http://www.biznet.ct.gov/scp_search/Default.aspx

In regard to your other question, ConnDOT has advertised some other signing contracts in the recent past (since late 2010) and has uploaded plans, but only to a state-owned file transfer site (link and login credentials given in the bid advertisement) and not to the Biznet.ct.gov site.  The plans have now been removed from the state-owned file transfer site.

I have construction plans for 018-123 (US 7 signing) and 138-221 (I-95 signing).  If you would like copies, please PM me and I will upload the contract documentation to a commercial file transfer site and send you the URL.

I wish the DOT would put all of their project plans on the web but that would be a lot of work.

They do now.  It is not a lot of work in comparison to distributing the paper plans--in fact it is a major efficiency savings.  Every state DOT and other highway agency should be doing this and the plans should be available for download free of charge.  The list of state DOTs that don't do this, which is getting shorter and shorter as time goes on, includes OR, NV, ID, WY, AZ, NM, CO, MN, IA, MS, FL, KY, MD (SHA only), WV, HI, NJ, NY, RI, MA, and NH.  Some of these states (NV, WY, MN, NM, NJ, WV, IA) make plans available through a pay service (which, IMO, is wrong--plans for construction in the public interest should be free to the public in electronic form; let the blueprint vendors earn their crust on paper prints and plans for privately funded construction).  The holdouts are concentrated in the Northeast.

P.S.  The emerging trend is to put the complete project archive (not just the projects that have been advertised in the recent past) on an externally accessible server.  MnDOT and Georgia DOT, for example, now have fully searchable construction plan archives covering the early years of Interstate construction and even further back.  It is thanks in large part to MnDOT's archive that I have construction plans for over 1000 MnDOT projects with signing (including over 400 contracts for sign replacement alone).  There are significant scalability issues that have to be confronted in putting a project archive online, but those are slowly being addressed.  Georgia DOT, for example, used to have its online project archive under a single Web directory which was (surprisingly enough) fully browsable, which meant that any random user could pull the server offline by requesting multiple directory listings within a short period of time.  Now it has switched over to a searchable but non-browsable "library cylinder" architecture, which is more robust.

P.P.S.  Note that if you are after sign design sheets for a ConnDOT signing contract, you need to look in the proposal book rather than the plans.  For 083-253 the proposal book (which has 45 sign design sheets) is here:

http://www.biznet.ct.gov/SCP_Documents/Bids/23224/83-253%20Specifications.pdf

[Mergingtraffic]

I-84 Signing project update:  (Sorry nopics)
1) On I-84 EB just before Exit 3 (US-7 SB Exit) and the US-7-6-202 multiplex, the I-84 EB 2-lane pull through BGS has been replaced and it now says "To 7 NB" as a 2-lane pull through instead.  I-84 NOT on the sign! 

Update:  CT DOT put up the I-84 EB 2-lane pull through BGS next to the Exit 3 "1 Mile" sign BGS and it shows I-84.  So that means the 1 mile pull through sign does not match the 1/2 mile pull through sign. 

[shadyjay]

I'm trying to picture a ramp coming from the Founders Bridge like that. I wish there were photos of downtown Hartford overhead from just before this was all redone, say from the 1980s. Despite the closeness to Hartford, I rarely went into the capitol back then.

Look what I just found:
http://kurumi.com/roads/maps/pics/ct-off-cover-1967.jpg

Founders Bridge crossing the river, I-91 going left-right along the river.  The ramp from I-91 NB to "State Street" (which clearly doesn't go directly to State St) is visible on the right.  You can also see I-91 South going over the bridge/State St, while NB goes underneath, after the direct entrance to the Founders Bridge.

[KEVIN_224]

Thank you for that awesome find! I see that the camera is generally pointing to the west towards Hartford. Today's I-84 would be to the right of this picture. As for the historical overheads, it only had the 1930s, 1962 and 2006. Oh well! 

[Mergingtraffic]

more signing updates:  On US-7 in Danbury north of I-84, the last of the non-reflectorized BGSs are being replaced.  Some US-202 signs have sprouted upon White Turkey Rd Ext off of Exit 11.  However, the exit numbers have changed:

Exit 11: US202/Federal Road.
Exit 12: US202
Exit 13:  end of expressway

NEW: Exit 10:  on US7 SB is the ramp to I-84 East. 

Then the exits jump to Exit 6, the exits on the I-84, US-7, US-6, US-202 overlap.  Then, on the US-7 expressway south of I-84 the exits are Exits 9, 8 by the mall.

The US-7 exit numbers make no sense.  They could at least coincide with the I-84, US-7, US-6, US-202 overlap exits.   If they are supposed to go with the exits on the US-7 expressway in Norwalk, I can half see that.  But as we all know the expressway through Wilton won't be completed anytime soon.

[shadyjay]

Did we forget what the exit numbers on US 7 north of I-84 were prior to this signing project?

NB-heading north from I-84:  Exit 11 (Federal Rd), Exit 12 (US 202/Brookfield)
SB-heading south from US 202/former end of expy:  Exit 11 (Federal Rd), Exit 13 (I-84 East)

And there were no exit numbers on the section of US 7 south of I-84.

Utilizing the same sequence as I-84's exits for US 7 would work in theory, but not logistically.  While Exits 1 & 2 could be south of I-84, then the US 7 NB exit to I-84 WB would be Exit 3, it would present the problem with two different Exits 1 & 2 on US 7, as Exits 1-3 are in Norwalk. 

It'll all make sense the day when CT is forced to switch to mile-based exits.

[HighwayMaster]

Did we forget what the exit numbers on US 7 north of I-84 were prior to this signing project?

NB-heading north from I-84:  Exit 11 (Federal Rd), Exit 12 (US 202/Brookfield)
SB-heading south from US 202/former end of expy:  Exit 11 (Federal Rd), Exit 13 (I-84 East)

And there were no exit numbers on the section of US 7 south of I-84.

Utilizing the same sequence as I-84's exits for US 7 would work in theory, but not logistically.  While Exits 1 & 2 could be south of I-84, then the US 7 NB exit to I-84 WB would be Exit 3, it would present the problem with two different Exits 1 & 2 on US 7, as Exits 1-3 are in Norwalk. 

It'll all make sense the day when CT is forced to switch to mile-based exits.

Finally! Believe me, doofy103, I've been on that road before, and the old US-7 SB numbers (12-11-13) made no sense whatsoever. It's much better now. However, I think ConnDOT should have waited until they built a Danbury-Norwalk link to put the exit numbers near the Danbury Fair Mall.

[shadyjay]

For those curious on the status of the Milford service plazas on the turnpike...

http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Upgraded-I-95-service-plazas-near-completion-2413051.php#photo-1950633

(some pics in there, too)

[Alps]

more signing updates:  On US-7 in Danbury north of I-84, the last of the non-reflectorized BGSs are being replaced.  Some US-202 signs have sprouted upon White Turkey Rd Ext off of Exit 11.  However, the exit numbers have changed:

Exit 11: US202/Federal Road.
Exit 12: US202
Exit 13:  end of expressway

NEW: Exit 10:  on US7 SB is the ramp to I-84 East. 

Then the exits jump to Exit 6, the exits on the I-84, US-7, US-6, US-202 overlap.  Then, on the US-7 expressway south of I-84 the exits are Exits 9, 8 by the mall.

The US-7 exit numbers make no sense.  They could at least coincide with the I-84, US-7, US-6, US-202 overlap exits.   If they are supposed to go with the exits on the US-7 expressway in Norwalk, I can half see that.  But as we all know the expressway through Wilton won't be completed anytime soon.

I have no problem with the way they did it. Yeah, ideally, the numbers ought to silently count along with I-84, which would leave you with Exit 6 for I-84, 4 and 5 or 5A/5B for the other exits. That doesn't leave a whole lot between there and Norwalk. My GUESS is that Exit 13 was numbered to account for I-84 (which would put Exit 9 right where it is now), while Exits 11 and 12 were numbered without accounting for I-84 (which again put Exit 9 right where it is now).

[KEVIN_224]

There's seemingly two sections of CT Route 72, both west and east of it's concurrency with I-84 in Plainville, CT:

1- CT 177 Plainville/Farmington [westbound exit/eastbound entrance]
2- CT 372 Plainville [westbound exit/westbound entrance]
3- Woodford Avenue - Plainville [eastbound exit]
4- I-84 West - Waterbury [only signed as Exit 4 eastbound]

(Concurrency with I-84 through Cooke's Gap)

6- I-84 East - Farmington/Hartford [only signed as Exit 6 westbound]
7- CT 372 - Corbin Avenue - New Britain
8- Columbus Boulevard - New Britain [eastbound exit]
9- CT 71 - Main St - New Britain [eastbound exit]

After Exit 9 [eastbound exit only] is the split for CT Route 9 North and South in downtown New Britain. Although there are no exit numbers, it should be Exit 10. There is no signed Exit 5 on CT Route 72. On a technicality, Exit 5 eastbound involves I-84 Exit 35 (CT 72 East to CT 9 - New Britain) while exit 5 westbound involves I-84 Exit 33 (CT 72 West - Bristol).

[Alps]

That's equally bizarre, that there would just be no Exit 5 or even a place for one.

[shadyjay]

There was an exit "5", WB only... it was a ramp to Crooked St / CT 372 IIRC.  It was eliminated due to I-84 WB traffic having to quickly cross CT 72 WB traffic to exit.  As part of the 3-laning of I-84 WB through the area, the exit was eliminated and a new exit constructed on CT 72 WB after it splits with I-84 WB.